The CMC are presenting a new programme, Music in the Historic Quarter, launching this Friday and based around the music and cultural organisations based at the Christ Church end of Temple Bar – the recently titled “historic quarter”. There are quite a number of cultural orgs in that small area and this is the first time they have all worked together on a shared programme of events.

My choice for the event series is:

Thurs 26: Dublin City Council’s Opera in the Open series performance of Don Giovanni – I made it to the performance of Handel’s Ariodante on Thurs last and it was realy lovely (once the rain holds off!)

At least one of the Evensong performances in Christ Church which is an incredible place for choral (I still think of it as my church after managing the RTE Living Music Festival programme there in 2008!)

Tues 31: Paudie O’Connor and Aoife Ní Chaoimh, programmed by Music Network (declaration of interest!!) in the Coach House

CMC themselves are running a Music Trail, which will consist selected works by five Irish composers in outdoor locations around the area. The trail has both music played out loud from specific building and an extended trail using a smartphone. It’s quite a nice idea and I’m going to try to do the whole trail at some point myself. I really like the idea that the two works by Eibhlis Farrell and Vincent Kennedy have ancient themes and are being played from the gardens in Dublin Castle where the original viking settlements were based. Symmetry, I like it!